Video footage has been released showing the inside of the flat where Welsh MI6 spy Gareth Williams' body was found in a padlocked holdall.

The video reveals how the flat appeared when it was searched by police, and shows a number of items including a woman's red wig, lipstick, and make-up.

The video was shown today at an inquest into his death, where a friend of Gareth Williams also revealed that the spy sometimes went by an alternative identity.

But his mystery second identity was not revealed as the coroner cut short the line of questioning to a friend of the 31-year-old.

Elizabeth Guthrie was asked by Mr Williams’s family lawyer Anthony O’Toole whether the spy had told her he “sometimes used another name”, to which she replied “yes”.

She also revealed that Mr Williams, from Pentraeth, Anglesey, had used a number of different phones to call her.

“He wouldn’t always call me from one number and he had brought various phones around,” she said.

“It was different numbers coming in and calling me that turned out to be Gareth’s voice.”

But more often than not he would “just show up and ring the bell”, she said.

Ms Guthrie, who signed a police statement on which her name was also incorrect, described a friendship with Mr Williams based on their mutual love of history, art, Japanese Manga cartoons, travel and humorous anecdotes.

Mr Williams’s body was found in his Pimlico flat in London in August 2010 but, 20 months on, the circumstances of his death remain a riddle.

When police entered his home, they found some £20,000-worth of expensive women’s clothing and shoes, the inquest at Westminster Coroner’s Court has heard.

Ms Guthrie said she and Mr Williams had been planning to attend a fancy dress ball together, dressed as luridly-coloured Manga characters.

Asked if her friend had ever expressed an interest in cross-dressing, Ms Guthrie said: “Nothing of a sexual bent but we were going to a fancy dress ball together.

“He was going as a ninja, not as a queen.”

She also suggested that his collection of female clothing might have been “Gareth’s attempt at a support strategy for someone. They certainly would not have been for him.”

Asked about his sexuality, she said: “I have a personal view that he was straight.”

While the pair were close friends who spent lots of time together, Ms Guthrie said she had never been to Mr Williams’s flat.

“For someone to have been brought back to his own space would have been something of note and would have implied, in my view, a very strong relationship,” she said.

“He may or may not have chosen to tell me about it but he would have told his family.”

When police entered Mr Williams's flat they found some £20,000-worth of high-end women's clothing and shoes among his possessions, the inquest has heard.

A member of staff who worked at upmarket west London fashion store Dover Street Market recalled him coming in regularly and buying women’s items he said were for his girlfriend.

In her written statement, Carol Kirton said he had never mentioned his girlfriend’s name.

“He would come into the store, browse the store and I would make a suggested purchase to him,” she said.

Initially the spy would decline her suggestion but then go on to make the purchase, she said.

“He described his girlfriend as tall and slim,” she said, adding that on one occasion he had bought a Christopher Kane patent leather skirt.

“He was different from other male customers,” Ms Kirton went on.

She described Mr Williams as “shy” and “on a mission to buy an item” when he came into the store.

Elizabeth Guthrie, a friend of Mr Williams, was asked in court whether the spy had ever expressed an interest in cross-dressing.

“Nothing of a sexual bent but we were going to a fancy dress ball together,” she said.

“He was going as a ninja, not as a queen.”

She also suggested that his collection of female clothing might have been “Gareth’s attempt at a support strategy for someone. They certainly would not have been for him”.

Asked about his sexuality, she said: “I have a personal view that he was straight.”

Next page: Websites visited by Mr Williams leaked to press

The court also heard that it had somehow been leaked to the press that Mr Williams’s home computer showed he visited websites about claustrophilia – the love of enclosure – and bondage and sadomasochism.

Ms Guthrie revealed that Mr Williams had sometimes gone by another name, but his mystery second identity was not revealed to the court as the coroner cut short the line of questioning.

The spy’s friend was asked by Mr Williams’s family lawyer Anthony O’Toole whether Mr Williams had told her he “sometimes used another name”, to which she replied “yes”.

She added that Mr Williams used a number of different phones to call her as well.

“He wouldn’t always call me from one number and he had brought various phones around,” she said.

“It was different numbers coming in and calling me that turned out to be Gareth’s voice.”

But more often than not he would “just show up and ring the bell”, she said.

Ms Guthrie, who signed a police statement on which her name was incorrect, described a friendship with Mr Williams based on their mutual love of history, art, Japanese Manga cartoons, travel and humorous anecdotes.

Questioned by the coroner over the puzzling issue of why she had signed the police statement despite the error, she explained she had been focusing on its content rather than alternative spellings of her name.

While the pair were close friends who spent lots of time together, Ms Guthrie said she had never been to Mr Williams’s flat.

“For someone to have been brought back to his own space would have been something of note and would have implied, in my view, a very strong relationship,” she said.

“He may or may not have chosen to tell me about it but he would have told his family.”

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, the leading officer in the case, told the court yesterday she always assumed “a third party had been involved in the death or by putting the body in the bag”.

Next page: Questions raised over spy's computer

Since Gareth Williams’s death, questions have inevitably been asked about whether the secret services could have played any part.

The clandestine activities of MI6 were raised again as the spy’s family lawyer probed the possibility that his computer was tampered with.

The electronic equipment was handed to Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command, SO15, on August 27, 2010 – four days after Mr Williams’s death came to light, the inquest heard.

But Anthony O’Toole noted there was not “any statement from any person at GCHQ to say that equipment was not tampered with” in the interim period.

Superintendent Michael Broster, who was responsible for SO15’s involvement in the investigation, gave little credit to the theory of MI6 interference, insisting Mr Williams’s workplace had been “sealed and taped”.

He went on: “I can’t testify absolutely it wasn’t interfered with. However I’ve no reason to suspect that it was.”

He also told the court he had failed to detect any link between Mr Williams’s work and his death.

“There’s no link between his work and his death that I’ve been privy to,” he said.

“When I was asking SIS (the Secret Intelligence Service) in relation to his work, in the back of my mind as an investigator I’m asking what potential links there could be with the finding of his body.

“I was doing a bit of my own investigation to see if I could find a link.”

But Mr O’Toole pressed him as to whether he was satisfied that GCHQ and SIS revealed to him all of Mr Williams’s relevant work “to show there was no link between his work and death”.

He replied: “I’ve had a large number of meetings with SIS and GCHQ. I’ve asked for, and been supplied with, all the relevant information in relation to his death.

“I don’t work for SIS or GCHQ so I can’t say absolutely definitely, but a very senior manager at SIS assured me I’ve been privy to his work and I’ve been able to make an assessment based on that.”